The face-off between the Ondo State Governor, Mr.
Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, and members of the state House of Assembly took a new
turn as lawmakers threatened that they would not pass the executive request for
approval to borrow N30 billion for execution of certain projects unless it
(executive) does the needful.
The Chairman of the Assembly Committee on
Information, Hon Gbenga Omole, disclosed the plan of the state government to
borrow the money, while responding to allegation of blackmail levelled against
the lawmakers over last Friday's story of appearance of snake on the floor of
the assembly chamber.
Akeredolu had during his assessment tour of the assembly
lambasted the lawmakers, accusing them of blackmailing the state with the snake
saga and the fallen ceiling of the chamber.
The governor, who came hard on the lawmakers, said
an investigative panel would be set up to look into the matter.
However, Omole, who debunked the allegation of
blackmail, reiterated that the assembly could not sit last Wednesday due to the
appearance of the snake in the assembly and also on the fallen ceiling near the
Speaker's table last Thursday.
Omole said it would not be business as usual
because the assembly would not approve the executive request to borrow money
until the governor does what the assembly wanted.
He said: “They want to borrow N30 billion, and I am
a member of the Appropriation Committee. If they do not do what we want, we
will not allow that to happen (borrowing of the money).
"Out of the money they want to borrow, they
want to rehabilitate the Accountant General’s office. You want to repair the
Accountant General’s office but you don’t want to repair the independent arm of
the government. This would not happen!
"The worst is that they will not give us
second term but we will do what the people of Ondo State want.
"It is not going to be business as usual. That
is my stand as the spokesperson of the assembly. Do they not repair their own
offices?
“The truth
of the matter is that the place needs attention. The way they merged the issue
of snake with the collapsed part of the building is also an issue. The termites
have eaten the roof of the building.
"On the issue of termite, everybody knows that
the place needs facelift, which is a fact that the governor knows. It is the
confusion of the issue of the snake with that of the termite that embarrassed
the governor. The governor accused us of blackmail, that why was it that the
past leadership of the assembly did nothing about it.
"Every year they put renovation of the assembly
in the budget but it has not been implemented. The executive brings in budget
and we passed it, but the place where the budget is passed is termite infested."
Reacting on the incident, the state chapter of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the present All Progressives Congress (APC)
dominates the assembly but cannot serve the people who elected them because the
legislature had submitted its independence to the executive.
The PDP in a statement signed by its state Publicity
Director of Publicity, Zadok Akintoye, said the current assembly was nothing
but a rubber stamp institution in the hands of the executive.
Akintoye said: “It is on record that the Rt. Hon.
Bamidele Oloyelogun-led APC dominated House of Assembly has not lived up to its
responsibilities as an independent arm of government.
"While not giving credence to the series of
blackmail as expressed by the executive, the present state of decay and
infrastructure neglect at the assembly shows poor management of the synergy
expected of two independent arms of government that should be working together
for the good of our people.
"The citizens are not unaware of the fact that
the APC-led assembly leadership was foisted to serve as a rubber stamp to executive
recklessness, we, however, are concerned as citizens of this great state, and
our concern is that this legislature may not serve the best interest of the
people considering its perceived submission of its independence to the whims
and caprices of the executive arm of government."
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